Republicans mourn Nancy Reagan – and the death of a more civilised politics

America says a fond farewell to a favourite First Lady

People pay their respects to Nancy Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library in California (AP)

Terie McCunn never voted for Ronald Reagan, but, like many Americans in 2016, she looks back on his presidency as a more civilised era. While visiting southern California from Seattle, she joined the mourners who had come to pay their respects to Mr Reagan’s widow, Nancy, always the most ardent keeper of his flame.

“It’s a part of history,” said Ms McCunn, who is 69. “Politics aside, theirs was just a wonderful, inspiring love story, and that’s something to be admired.”

Mrs Reagan died at her home in Bel Air on Sunday, aged 94. On Wednesday morning, around 20 close friends and family attended a short, private service in Santa Monica before her coffin was escorted to the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, 40 miles north of Los Angeles, along a route that included a stretch of the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Throughout Wednesday afternoon and yesterday, thousands like Ms McCunn lined up in the hot sun to see the late First Lady lying in repose.

The funeral, which is due to take place on Friday, was planned with characteristic precision by Mrs Reagan herself. She picked the flower arrangements and the music, which will be played by a US Marine Corps band. She identified her own final resting place, close to President Reagan’s, on a hillside facing the Pacific Ocean. She planned the guest list of around 1,000, which features her fellow First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Rosalynn Carter.

The mourners will also include an eclectic list of celebrities, such as news anchor Katie Couric, actress Anjelica Houston, Joan Rivers’ daughter, Melissa, and Mr T. The star of The A-Team formed an unlikely bond with Mrs Reagan while working as a spokesman for her “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign in the 1980s. After her death, he tweeted that it was “the highlight of my career to be asked to work with the First Family on such a great cause”, saying he would “truly miss” Mrs Reagan.

President Reagan died in 2004 at 93. His wife’s passing comes as the party he led to two historic presidential election victories appears to be tearing itself apart in search of its latest nominee. On the campaign trail, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has described the Republicans admiringly as “the party of Lincoln and Reagan”, and then gone on to mock the size of Donald Trump’s hands.

Mr Trump, the front runner, has compared his own political journey from left to right to that of Mr Reagan’s, who started out as a Democrat. Few will compare the Reagans’ famous love story to that of Mr Trump and his prospective First Lady, Melania. The Donald once discussed his third wife’s bowel movements in graphic detail during an interview with radio shock jock Howard Stern.

Paul Hoefker, an 84-year-old Korean War veteran from Simi Valley, was among those waiting to file past the casket on Wednesday. “President Reagan was a real hero,” said Mr Hoefker, a member of the Reagan Foundation, who voted for Reagan both as governor of California and later as President.

He agreed that Trump and Reagan were similar in having emerged from non-political backgrounds. “That seemed like a good thing in the Reagan days,” he said. “But now, I’m not so sure.”